Ruta de la Cascadas

The Ruta de la Cascadas near Baños in Ecuador is a pretty scenic ride along the mountains. We rented bikes for the day and rode part of the 62km route down to Puyo. They tell you it’s mostly downhill but it’s also uphill for quite a stretch ;)

The road however is very very beautiful with cascades all along. Densely forested mountains, waterfalls and a river to ride by. Pure heaven!

Hi Zara, love your site & photos as well.
This will be first of the many questions that will follow soon, can anyone ride a bike near the ‘Ruta de la Cascadas near Baños’ or only the pro-mountain bikers should do the biking trip?

Hi Riua,
I am happy to read that you like our travel content! :)
I would say anyone relatively fit can bike Ruta de las Cascadas. I am not a biker, for example. But make sure you rent a bike in good state. I got one from Banos town centre but only realized half way through that the gear box wasn’t functioning properly. This make the way up really hard as I couldn’t compensate with gear. As such, we didn’t make it until the end. But there’s no reason why “regular people” can’t enjoy a little biking in the area.. even if it’s not the whole thing!

I was curious for you to expand on your bike ride… You rented and took the bikes from Banos to Puyo, but did you have to take the bikes back to Banos or was there another location and Puyo to leave the bikes?

Hi Megan,
This was a “return trip”. I believe this is the case for everyone. You bike towards Puyo (or up until wherever you can) and then return back to Banos to give the bike back to the same place. The way back is mostly down though, so it’s easier! :)